Football Season 2012/2013

[Deleted]

You mean trigger happy for anyone wearing red I hope.

Seems like you forgot that United's goal was from non-existent corner and that he could easily give Real a penalty. Sure, there were some poor calls, but he wasn't biased.

Anyway, it was a great match to watch. The draw in the first leg is much more beneficial for United, I have the feeling that the game on Old Trafford will be even more instense and interesting.

[Nerph-]

Well I've got to say it, Bale is on a bloody good run for the minute, 10 goals in 11 games and man, what kind of goals... He's like a 1 man team lol.

[Valeron]

Yep, he is in some good form. Although some of the transfer rumors going on about him are just silly.

[Jackmoves]

Well I've got to say it, Bale is on a bloody good run for the minute, 10 goals in 11 games and man, what kind of goals... He's like a 1 man team lol.

We got a lot of great players tbf, what we need to do is to get Ade to actually enjoy life, or get a new striker, if we could have a striker that can score at least 20 goals in the league per season I'd be stoked, then we got a team that can challange for the title I think. Spurs can beat anyone on a good day but we lack a really good and realiable striker. My dream signing would be someone like Huntelaar.

[koodledrum]

Oh dear, not a good result for Arsenal!

Rangers won 4-1 away to Clyde, still retain a 22 point gap atop the third division, Celtic on the other hand, well they run out 6-1 winners at home against Dundee United, although no great surprise given the fact the United manager is Jackie McNamara who played for Celtic for years.

[Northern Goblin]

No idea what Wenger was thinking. The FA Cup was their best shot at silverware this year.

[Larath]

No idea what Wenger was thinking. The FA Cup was their best shot at silverware this year.

obviously he's going all out for the CL this season.

[mirodin]

obviously he's going all out for the CL this season.

Thanks for that man, i needed a good laugh. Anyway Wenger has said that finishing in the top 4 is same as winning a trophy, can't expect more from a manager like that. After we crash out of the CL, i hope we finish 5th or below, maybe then his majesty will resign so we can get on a new path.

[koodledrum]

To be perfectly honest, if you look at Arsenal against United, City & Chelsea you can sort of see his predicament, he's not really going to be competitive against those three while they're throwing cash around like it's going out of fashion, while Wenger isn't exactly spending peanuts he isn't matching those clubs & has just lost one of his best players to United. Can't argue with his logic weird as it sounds though, finishing in the top 4 might not seem like winning a trophy, but between prize money for doing so coupled with the CL revenue you can see why he sees it as vital to do so - the problem with the premiership is the fact it glorifies mediocrity, so the incentive to win the league is lessened because of the fact 4 teams get into the CL. I know hark at the Scottish football fan talking about a mediocre league, but you can see the thought process - there are 10 teams in the Premiership right now who's sole goal is to finish between 6th & 17th because it means they'll get paid next season. There's 15 teams in that league who can tell you on the opening day of pre-season that they're not going to challenge for the title or CL spots yet they'll still get over £200m in revenue - if that's not accepting mediocrity I'm not sure what is.

A correction from earlier, Celtic won 6-2 - although given what I've said above this, if the EPL accepts mediocrity, the SPL fuckin promotes it!

[mirodin]

United isn't really spending big money, not like City and Chelsea. The RVP deal at the start of the season was a clear sign of lack of ambition. Selling the best player in the league and the one that can push you to the next level (winning the league or CL) even for one season is frankly stupid. Van Persie and Walcot had the same expiring contracts, yet they kept one and sold the other.

I understand the money concept of it all, but at some point you have to win something. Arsenal look more like a company then a football team, it's less about winning something and more about finishing the year in black.

[koodledrum]

Ultimately though it's the base problem with the Premiership, there's no denying it has some quality sides on a European scale, but right now it's a 3 horse league, something which Premiership fans often state is the reason why La Liga can't be the best league in the world - the rest of the league simply accepts that & hopes to do some damage elsewhere. The sad truth is that it makes a club like Arsenal's position so much more clear cut, they play not for the league but for Europe & the cups, the league ensures their survival as a club because of the revenue it brings in, but they're not competing with the main 3 in the league because they've already written off their chances of winning the league. That's not an Arsene Wenger problem, that's a Premiership problem because 17 managers in that league at the start of the season KNEW they had ZERO chance of winning the league & it's sickening that they'll collect masses of money for that when really all they're doing is playing out the fixtures.

[Northern Goblin]

The other thing that bothers me is most clubs fail to improve, Stoke are the greatest example of this, they're no better than they were 4-5 seasons ago.

The only teams showing any clear and consistent progress are Spurs and Everton, and one of those two will break the big three eventually.

[Deleted]

Or they will sale their best players, Bale, Fellaini.

[Deleted]

obviously he's going all out for the CL this season.

If we learned something from last year's CL is that anything can happen. ; )

To be perfectly honest, if you look at Arsenal against United, City & Chelsea you can sort of see his predicament, he's not really going to be competitive against those three while they're throwing cash around like it's going out of fashion, while Wenger isn't exactly spending peanuts he isn't matching those clubs & has just lost one of his best players to United.

With the new FFP rules the gap between the sugar daddy clubs(and United) and the next 2-3 won't be that huge. Chelsea and Man City will still spend more money, but not as much as before.

Can't argue with his logic weird as it sounds though, finishing in the top 4 might not seem like winning a trophy, but between prize money for doing so coupled with the CL revenue you can see why he sees it as vital to do so - the problem with the premiership is the fact it glorifies mediocrity, so the incentive to win the league is lessened because of the fact 4 teams get into the CL. I know hark at the Scottish football fan talking about a mediocre league, but you can see the thought process - there are 10 teams in the Premiership right now who's sole goal is to finish between 6th & 17th because it means they'll get paid next season. There's 15 teams in that league who can tell you on the opening day of pre-season that they're not going to challenge for the title or CL spots yet they'll still get over £200m in revenue - if that's not accepting mediocrity I'm not sure what is.

At the moment there are 4(or even 5, if you count Liverpool) clubs fighting for the 3rd and 4th CL spots. 6/7 out of 20 teams are aiming to get into top 4, thats 1/3 of the whole league. In the last 10 years, 4 different clubs won the league(and a 5th- Liverpool, was runner-up twice). Sure, it's not perfect, but it could have been much, much worse.

United isn't really spending big money, not like City and Chelsea. The RVP deal at the start of the season was a clear sign of lack of ambition. Selling the best player in the league and the one that can push you to the next level (winning the league or CL) even for one season is frankly stupid. Van Persie and Walcot had the same expiring contracts, yet they kept one and sold the other.

RVP was going to leave 100%. The question was, should he go for free, or should Arsenal make profit out of him.

Or they will sale their best players, Bale, Fellaini.

I think that if Spurs get their hands on the CL spot, they'll be able to keep Bale with them. If they don't, he will most likely leave in the summer. Same goes for Arsenal, I doubt Wilshere will stay with them for long if they miss CL once or twice.

[Northern Goblin]

If Bale was going to go, in my mind, it would have been last season.

I'm also of the mind that Fellani is as good as he is because he's at the right club for him, he's a great player, but I think he's got the right team around him to get the most out of him.


Today was a great day for results, United weren't playing but Leeds got stuffed 4-0, it might have been by City but I couldn't care less

[Nerph-]

Someone needs to explain the Leeds hate so I can hate them too... ;D

[Jackmoves]

PSG lost to the 17th team FC Schaux(sp). Backlash from their showing in the CL maybe. They played really rubbish.

[koodledrum]

Leeds hate might have more to do with their attitude when they were moderately relevant coupled with the fact their entire recent history was built on a house of cards - coming from someone who's club went to the wall, Leeds United were a fucking disgrace, they lorded it as if they were due their place when in reality it was bankrolled by other people. Could also be from back in the day when they had a reputation for being dirty bastards, stuff like getting ball AND man wherever possible (and not in that priority order) that'll put you in bad books for many years, in football that'll stick around for a long while.

[Nerph-]

holy crap what a sweet volley by Nani, pity it hit the post!

[Northern Goblin]

Cleverley has clearly taken shooting lessons from Paul Scholes, that right foot is crazy.

I'll explain the Leeds thing soon (trust me I'm glad someone's finally asked!) It's not a very easy post to word while keeping to the forum's rules.

---------- Post added 2013-02-18 at 09:30 PM ----------

Not often I say this, but Nani's deserved that. A series of fantastic hits all night since he came on, one was bound to go in at this rate.


Edit: Speaking of people who deserved a goal tonight...